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If you are searching for a great PreBuilt Gaming PC under $1000, then you have come to the right place. Generally, we recommend building a gaming PC on your own as it offers a much better value than the PreBuilt ones. However, not everyone has the time to build a PC and not everyone possesses the skill to take a screwdriver and get everything right the very first time.
This is where PreBuilt Gaming PCs become a reasonable option. In 2023, we have PreBuilt Gaming PCs for literally every budget, however, not every PC is going to do the job correctly. You can easily get appealed by a PC’s appearance or specs if you don’t have any idea about the configuration offered by the brand.
In this post, I have explained everything you need to get the right PreBuilt Gaming PC for under $1000 for yourself so that you can start gaming right away.
What Is PreBuilt Gaming PC?
A PreBuilt Gaming PC comes with pre-assembled PC components and is ready to work out of the box. PreBuilt Gaming Systems are put together by well-known and popular brands that feature gaming performance-oriented configurations. A Desktop Gaming PC comes with 6-7 different components that are connected to each other via the motherboard. The user needs to install each component manually to get it working but a PreBuilt Gaming PC comes with everything pre-installed.
No posts for this criteria.Is $1000 Good For A Gaming PC?
Short Answer- Yes, but it also depends on your needs. If you want a smooth gaming experience at 1080p resolution, then it is possible with a PreBuilt Gaming PC for $1000 but at the same time, you can’t expect to max out everything with this budget. With a custom $1000 build, it is totally possible to play on the highest settings at 1080p resolution but most $1000 PreBuilts don’t offer the best specs. That’s simply the reality.
In order to know if a particular $1000 PreBuilt system is worth it, you need to check its configuration. The CPU-GPU combo, the RAM and Storage, the PSU, and the case, all of these are important to check carefully if you don’t want your money to end up in a garbage PC. On top of that, I also prefer a PreBuilt PC that comes with additional features such as OS, Wifi, and Keyboard/Mouse combo.
For $1000, you should always try to get at least a 6-core processor from one of the latest generations of either AMD or Intel processors family. Some PreBuilts also offer an 8-core CPU but at the cost of a decent GPU. Generally, a 6-core processor is more than enough for any game if it is made on good architecture and has a powerful single-core performance. If the processor is overclockable, then it is even better.
Most brands cheap out on motherboards and there is nothing you can do about it. However, you should still try to get the most basic slots and ports in adequate quantity if you don’t want your PC to become unupgradable in the future. Most of these PreBuilts will come with a Micro-ATX motherboard to save cost especially when the brands know that not everyone is going to use all the PCI-E expansion slots and SATA ports.
Some brands may offer unlocked chipsets with an overclockable processor which is a great deal but if one of them is locked, then the configuration is simply bad enough to avoid the PC altogether except if it comes with a really good GPU.
For $1000, our priority goes to at 16GB of DDR4 RAM. Although 8GB will get the job done just fine, 16GB will make your system future-proof and will eliminate all sorts of bottlenecking from the memory side. I recommend having 3000MHz of clock frequency or higher to get the best gaming performance and preferably lower latency.
The best $1000 PreBuilt Gaming PC will be the one that can play games on medium to high settings at 1080p resolution with around 60 fps. Except if a PreBuilt is outstanding in all aspects and comes with a really powerful iGPU from one of the latest AMD Ryzen APUs, I don’t recommend going with a PC that doesn’t come with a discrete GPU as you will be spending a few hundred dollars more on a dedicated GPU later.
500GB of fast SSD storage should be the minimum to start with. If the SSD is M.2 NVME, then it is even better as it is several times faster even than the SATA SSD. Some PCs come with a combination of dual storage drives that are best for storing your OS and games separately.
At this price range, a reliable power supply is a must. If the power supply is from one of the most popular brands like Corsair, Cooler Master, EVGA, etc., then better. On top of that, it should be an 80+ rated PSU with good voltage regulation and OV/UV/OC/UC protection features.
As most budget PreBuilt Gaming PCs come with a Micro-ATX motherboard, brands generally opt for a cheaper Micro-ATX tower. Some may provide a Mid-Tower as well but it is important that the case should have enough clearance for an aftermarket CPU cooler and long GPU. It should also have good ventilation and adequate clearance for cable management.
5 Best PreBuilt Gaming PCs Under $1000
GPU- Nvidia Geforce GTX 1650
RAM- 8GB DDR4
Storage- 500GB SSD
- Ideal for 1080p gaming
- Beautiful and spacious PC case
- 3x 120mm ARGB fans pre-installed
- Wifi and Windows 10 Home
- No Keyboard/Mouse combo
Skytech has a lot of PreBuilt options for under $1000 with different configurations. The first one here is available for around $800 and features a good CPU-GPU combo for 1080p gaming. The CPU used is the Intel Core i3 10100F processor that comes with 4 cores and 8 threads clocked at 3.6/4.3GHz base/boost clock speeds. Of course, this is not the best gaming CPU for a $1000 PreBuilt but for 800 bucks, this is all you need with one of the best budget GPUs, the GTX 1650.
Geforce GTX 1650 comes with 4GB of VRAM that can maximize many graphical settings depending on the title you are playing. It is an affordable choice for 1080p gaming and has been popular since its release in 2019. For memory, you will get 8GB of DDR4 RAM clocked at 3200MHz and a single 500GB of SSD for storage. This should last a while but adding another stick of 8GB RAM and a 1TB of SSD in the future will make it more future-proof.
All of this is hosted inside a beautiful and spacious Micro-ATX tower that has a fully vented front panel and 3x 120mm ARGB fans pre-installed. I generally prefer going with a case that has universal support for CPU coolers and long graphics cards and this one is no exception. Skytech provides a pre-installed Wifi PCI-E card and Windows 10 Home OS to let you play right away.
The only thing it lacks is a keyboard/mouse combo which will add another $30-$100 to your bill depending on the keyboard and mouse you opt for.
GPU- Nvidia Geforce GTX 1650
RAM- 8GB DDR4
Storage- 512GB SSD
- Powerful for gaming/content creation
- Intel Wifi 6 adapter
- 3x 120mm ARGB fans pre-installed
- Keyboard/Mouse and Windows 10 Home
- N/A
The Acer Nitro N50 is the best Value PreBuilt Gaming PC for around $800 bucks. It doesn’t have any major or noticeable Cons and therefore, is fit for the buy at this price. It comes with a powerful Core i5 11400F processor featuring 6 cores and 12 threads that suffices for both gaming and productivity tasks. With these many powerful cores, you can get any high-end GPU in the future to max out games on whatever resolution you like.
For now, it comes with the budget GPU GTX 1650 based on the Turing architecture. The combination of GTX 1650 with i5 11400F will be faster than the i3 10100F and GTX 1650 in gaming and heavy workload applications. For RAM and storage, it has 8GB of DDR4 memory and 512GB of NVME SSD installed which is faster than the SATA SSD.
For connectivity, Acer provides it with an Intel Wifi 6 adapter that is significantly faster than the Wifi 5 adapter which I see in most budget PreBuilt systems. Hence, downloading huge games won’t be a problem.
Unlike the previous one, it also comes with a quality keyboard/mouse combo to start things off and a Windows 10 Home pre-installed so that you can save money and a few hours in the basic setup. I believe that this is definitely the most appealing PreBuilt Gaming PC under $1000 that is packed with features and costs way lower than its competitors.
GPU- Nvidia Geforce RTX 3050
RAM- 8GB DDR4
Storage- 500GB SSD
- Perfect for 1080p gaming
- Beautiful and spacious micro-ATX tower
- 3x 120mm RGB fans pre-installed
- Wifi and Windows 10 Home
- No Keyboard/Mouse combo
- RAM and Storage could have been more
Here is another Skytech PreBuilt Gaming PC I recommend if you have around $900 in your pocket. This is one of the most outstanding PreBuilts for 1080p gaming that feature a perfect CPU-GPU combo for 1080p gaming. It comes with the i5 10400F processor that has 6 cores and 12 threads clocked at 2.9/4.3GHz. It goes with the Nvidia Geforce RTX 3050 GPU which is the slowest in the Ampere family yet as powerful as the GTX 1660 Super with the capability to support Ray Tracing.
RTX 3050 can easily max out many games at 1080p but a better approach will be high to ultra settings for a consistent 60+ fps. This is the PC you might be looking for as it is literally the one that gives you the eye candy in the games you are looking for.
It comes with 8GB of DDR4 RAM clocked at 3200MHz and a single 500GB of NVME SSD storage. At this price, I believe that it could have been better with a 16GB RAM kit and at least 1TB of storage but nonetheless, the most important specs are on point.
You will get a reliable 600 watts 80 Plus Gold rated power supply that is adequate even for a high-end GPU like RTX 3080 and will be sufficient for further upgrades. You will also get a pre-installed Wifi adapter and Windows 10 Home just like any other PreBuilt system. All the components are hosted inside a gorgeous micro-ATX tower that features triple 120mm RGB Ring fans and tempered glass front and side panels to show off your rig.
GPU- Nvidia Geforce RTX 3050
RAM- 16GB DDR4
Storage- 500GB SSD
- Powerful 6-core AMD APU
- Cooler Master 240mm AIO cooler
- RTX 3050 for 60fps gaming
- Premium Cooler Master case
- 3x 120mm RGB fans pre-installed
- Wifi and Windows 10 Home
- No Keyboard/Mouse combo
- Locked chipset motherboard
Fortunately, there is a PC with AMD CPU that is as strong as the Intel one. The AVGPC HellFire II is a popular PreBuilt Gaming PC under $100 that comes with one of the best Ryzen APUs of all time. The Ryzen 5 5600G is a 6-core/12-thread processor that possesses the power of both CPU and GPU. It comes with Vega 7 iGPU that is decent for casual gaming and will be a great alternative to your discrete GPU if the latter suddenly fails to work.
The GPU used is the Geforce RTX 3050 which you already read about above. So, you can expect similar performance to the Skytech Blaze II Gaming PC except that now you have two advantages due to the Ryzen APU. The first one is the iGPU and the second one is the ability to overclock. The bad part is that the PC comes with an A520 chipset motherboard which doesn’t let you overclock but if you ever plan to upgrade it in the future, go with at least a B550 motherboard.
Other specs include a 16GB DDR4 RAM module clocked at 3200MHz and a single 500GB of NVME storage. Several tests have shown that Ryzen CPUs particularly the latest generation APUs benefit from highly clocked memories more than Intel CPUs. This will directly impact gaming performance and 16GB won’t bottleneck your system ever.
To make sure your system looks good enough with all these powerful components, AVGPC provides you with one of the best Micro-ATX towers from Cooler Master that has clearance for almost everything and a great cable management system.
One more thing I must add is the aftermarket CPU cooler used here. As you may have seen from different PreBuilt PCs listed here, this one comes with a dedicated Cooler Master AIO 240mm cooler that is insane at this price. Only if the company had invested more in the motherboard, it could have been the best gaming PC for this price.
GPU- Nvidia Geforce RTX 2060
RAM- 16GB DDR4
Storage- 480GB SSD
- No-compromise 1080p gaming
- Mid-tower case with good clearance
- RGB Keyboard/Mouse combo
- 3x 120mm RGB fans pre-installed
- Wifi and Windows 10 Home
- No aftermarket CPU cooler
- Storage could have been more
For $1000, our best pick is the iBUYPOWER TraceMR 231i Gaming PreBuilt PC that offers the best CPU-GPU combo of all. The processor i5 11400F is combined with the Turing series Geforce RTX 2060 GPU. The processor is already very powerful for handling any high-end GPU and the GPU is overkill for 1080p gaming.
This means you can have no-compromise gaming at 1080p resolution and can possibly play even at 1440p resolution with high settings. No matter how intensive the game will be, you will always see a consistent 60+fps on the top corner.
It comes with 16GB of DDR4 RAM and 480GB SSD storage. The storage could have been higher and I definitely recommend adding another 1TB SSD to store more and bigger games. All the parts come pre-assembled inside a beautiful mid-tower case from iBUYPower that gives you enough clearance for any further upgrades and a full-length PSU shroud to hide all the cable clutter.
It comes with 4x 120m RGB fans for good airflow and an RGB keyboard/mouse combo to get into gaming out of the box. I believe that it is worth every penny and should be the ultimate choice for gaming at 1080p resolution.
Are $700 PreBuilt Gaming PCs Upgradable?
Almost every PreBuilt PC listed here comes with a decent Micro-ATX or Mid-Tower case that is easily upgradeable. However, not every type of component will be supported but most medium-sized CPU coolers, GPU, and PSUs will fit like a breeze. Most builds won’t require a CPU upgrade and the best upgrade will be the GPU.
If you want to max out games at 1080p resolution or higher, then I recommend going with RX 6600 or RTX 3060 at the minimum. Almost every PC listed here can support mid to high-end GPUs that can provide you with consistent 60+fps. Good thing is that these PCs come with reliable and sufficient wattage PSUs that are going to support more components without any need for a change of PSU.
Other necessary upgradable components are the motherboards and CPU coolers. If the PC comes with an overclockable CPU but a locked chipset motherboard, you can take advantage of the CPU by upgrading your motherboard to an unlocked one. With that you may need to change your stock CPU cooler as overclocking increases CPU temperature drastically and to avoid overheating, I recommend getting an aftermarket CPU cooler.
Final Words
For $1000, there are plenty of options in the market but not every PC comes with a decent CPU-GPU combo. I suggest that you totally avoid a PC that comes with just an APU except if the cost is low and you are just a casual gamer.
If you need help with choosing your own or if you want advice and suggestions for building your own gaming PC, feel free to use the comment box below. We will try to help you in as short time as possible.
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